"We see hiring and retaining people - and HR strategy - as being as fundamental to the business as breathing is to people", says Nick Jenkins, founder and chief executive of Moonpig, the internet greetings card company.

Perhaps this is easier to achieve in a small organisation than it is in a big one.

A small company of 78 people, Nick says what many business owners feel about the requirements of employment law. "You have to enter into this very legalistic process, which changes the tone" which leads to "unnecessary tension and upset".